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Wildfire keeps key California highway closed through weekend

Wildfire keeps key Calif. highway closed

By Associated Press By NOAH BERGER and PAUL ELIAS (AP)

Sept. 7, 2018

Noah Berger

Caption

Firefighters light backfire while battling the Delta Fire in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, Calif., on Thursday, Sept. 6, 2018. California is taking a financial wallop from unrelenting wildfires that have drained its firefighting budget and prompted nearly $1 billion in property claims even before the start of the dangerous fall fire season, officials said Thursday. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

SHASTA-TRINITY NATIONAL FOREST, Calif. – A stretch of a major interstate near the California-Oregon border will remain closed through the weekend as crews try to tame a wildfire roaring along the road, forcing truckers and other motorists to take lengthy detours, officials said Friday.

The blaze that shut down 45 miles of Interstate 5 in California on Wednesday still was burning out of control in the rural area, said Denise Yergenson, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Transportation.

It has destroyed thousands of trees – some 70 feet tall – that could fall onto the road, she said.

“There is lots of damage, lots of emergency personnel. It’s just not a safe situation,” she said.